Love Exchange
by Abigail Johnson
Summary: Alex, an exchange student from Australia, becomes close friends with Ginny and eventually starts to like Ron. But who should like her other than Ron's enemy, Draco Malfoy. He attempts to steal her from Ron, but his attempts continue to fail... or do they?
1. Butterflies

Love Exchange

Chapter One: Butterflies

Disclaimer: I own no characters except Alex. The rest belong to the lucky J.K. Rowling.

Alexandra Spencer, known by most as Alex, nervously clutched her plane ticker, her visa, and her I.D. as she waited for her plane to arrive. She had received a letter from a 'Professor Dumbledore' about coming to a sort of boarding school in England. It sounded okay for a school… better than bouncing around foster homes. "And who knows?" she thought. "Maybe… maybe it will be different this time… maybe I'll actually stay here for awhile."

Alex had never found a place where she felt truly accepted. Everybody always picked on her about things: her clothes, which nearly always consisted of jeans and t-shirts; her hair, which was nearly always up in some sort of a ponytail; and mainly her family life. People didn't seem to understand, or want to for that matter, why she had been bounced around to different foster homes.

Alex looked at the letter from Professor Dumbledore again. It read like this:

_Miss Alexandra Spencer:_

_          We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_          Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

Deputy Headmistress 

Alex still didn't understand some things. "School of _Witchcraft_ and _Wizardry_?? That must be a joke or something. I mean, magic?? I thought that stuff didn't exist!" Alex said to herself. "But I'll give it a shot."

"Attention! Flight 407 bound for London, England, is now ready for boarding!" Alex heard the speaker's voice over the intercom. "Well that's my flight. Guess I'll go."

She gathered her things and headed to where her plane would take off from. She walked up to the ticket counter, handed the agent her ticket, visa, and I.D., and walked onto the plane. "Next stop, London!"

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Alex got to the airport in London, gathered her things, and went to call a cab to go to the train station. She got into the cab and told the driver to take her to the train station.

"Where ya headed missy?" the cabbie asked her.

"To school. It's called Hogwarts," Alex replied. "I've never been there. It's my first year. I hope everything goes well."

"Hmm… Hogwarts, did ya say? Actually I've never heard of it, but I'm out of the loop, so that's probably why," the cabbie reasoned.

Alex was slightly puzzled by this, but didn't think much about it. Judging by the many wrinkles on the old cab driver's aged face, she figured that he was quite old, so he probably just hadn't heard of it. The rest of the ride was in silence.

When they arrived at the station, Alex paid the cab driver and bid him good day. She walked in and looked at her ticket to see which platform she was to get on. She saw a train conductor and decided to ask him.

"Excuse me, sir, but could you direct me to platform 9 ¾?" Alex asked him.

"Platform 9 ¾?? Does EVERYONE think that is funny? Is it posted somewhere 'Ask the train conductor about platform 9 ¾'?" the conductor asked, going crazy. "Every year I have one idiot ask me…" he muttered.

"Okay, I'll take that as a no…" Alex muttered as she walked off. Suddenly she spotted a family of redheads that were… running into the walk between platforms 9 and 10? She walked up to the mother to ask how to get to platform 9 ¾.

"Excuse me ma'am… are they going to Hogwarts?"

"Why yes. Are you going as well?" the mother asked.

"I am. It's my first year."

"Well I am Mrs. Weasley, and this is my daughter Ginny. Fred and George, the twins, and Ron, my youngest son, have already boarded. Ginny, this is… umm… well actually, what IS your name?"

"My name is Alexandra Spencer, but call me Alex," Alex told them. "It's nice to meet you."

"Come on," Ginny called. "Let's get on the train and I can introduce you to everyone."

Alex just followed her, glad that for the first time today, the butterflies had left her stomach.


	2. On The Train

Love Exchange

Chapter Two: On The Train

Disclaimer: I own no characters except Alex. The rest belong to the lucky J.K. Rowling.

Ron was sitting between Harry and Hermione in a compartment on the train, talking about their summers. His sister Ginny walked into their compartment with this girl he'd never seen before. She was about 5'5" with brown hair streaked with blonde and deep green eyes. Ron could not believe how pretty she was.

"Ron, Harry, Hermione, this is Alex. She's an 'exchange student' from the land down under," Ginny informed them.

'So that's where she got that gorgeous tan, hmm?' Ron thought to himself.

"She's a 4th year, just like you three," Ginny said. "I really hope she's in Gryffindor with us. She's really great." At this Alex blushed. Ron noticed that she looked like a Weasley when they got embarrassed. He really hoped he could get to know her a LOT better.

Alex watched everyone's expressions as she followed Ginny into the compartment. Harry seemed glad to see Ginny, and Hermione seemed a tad… jealous of her or something, but Ron seemed very happy to meet her. She saw his eyes light up as Ginny introduced her to everyone.

"Ron, Harry, Hermione, this is Alex. She's an 'exchange student' from the land down under," Ginny told the trio.

Alex looked around the compartment as Ginny spoke, waiting for reactions. She made a mental note of Harry's non-fluctuating eyes fixed on Ginny, then noted Ron's goofy expression. His head was cocked to one side and his eyebrows were raised, leading her to believe that he was thinking about something.

"She's a 4th year, just like you three," Ginny said. "I really hope she's in Gryffindor with us. She's really great." Alex felt her cheeks turn red. At the same time, she noticed Hermione's face get red, though it seemed like she was angry.

Harry was the first to address Alex. "So whereabouts in Australia are you from?" he asked curiously.

"I've been all over, really, but I've most recently been near Sydney," Alex answered with an uneasy smile, hoping that the questioning wouldn't lead to her family life.

"That's awesome. I've always wanted to see Sydney. Now I know this will sound stupid, but I'm dying to know: what are kangaroos like?" Harry asked excitedly. The others laughed.

"Well, actually, I've never seen one, so your guess is as good as mine!" Alex chuckled, glad to change the subject. These people seemed really nice, and she was grateful that she met them. Now she could only hope that everyone else at Hogwarts was as friendly as this group.

Author's note: Sorry this is so short! The next one is longer, and I'm still writing the chapters after that. Review if ya would be so kind! Thanks to Reese and Abigail for reviewing. Sorry it took so long to get this up! I had lost my notebook and then school hit, so any updates were not likely. But summer is 14 days away!!!! YAY! So hopefully more writing in the next few days.


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